GOP Senator Praises Musk for Posting About Spending Bill 75 Times So Lawmakers ‘Know’ What’s in It
A top Republican has slammed accusations that Elon Musk has transformed himself into the GOP’s éminence grise, insisting the tech-bro billionaire is a force for “transparency” just days after the SpaceX founder’s legislative meddling almost resulted in a federal shutdown.
Speaking with Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Sen. Bill Hagerty said Donald Trump is “clearly” the leader of the Republican Party, and that he was “appreciative” of the president-elect having “talent” like Musk available to advise him.
Broaching the topic with Hagerty, Bash said, “You said that [Musk] allowed for transparency when he put [the recent spending bill] on social media. He actually did it at 4:15 a.m. on Wednesday, and what he specifically posted was, quote, ‘this bill should not pass’.”
Bash went on, “Then, senator, he posted 75 times over the course of that day attacking the bill, pressuring Republicans to tank it. Donald Trump didn’t weigh in publicly for more than 12 hours, and only did so after it was clear Republicans were following Musk’s lead and turning on the bill.”
She then added, “So did Donald Trump only pick this fight because Elon Musk backed him into a corner?”
“I certainly wouldn’t say that,” Hagerty quickly responded, adding that “thank god Elon Musk bought Twitter, because that’s the only way we would have even known what’s in this bill otherwise.”
Bash swiftly pressed Hagerty on this point, noting the general assumption is perhaps that elected representatives do, in fact, make an effort to read and analyze the legislation they’re voting on, rather than relying on tech billionaires to tweet about it.
“I understand it was quite large at the beginning,” Bash said, “but to say that it was only Elon Musk that made people aware of what was in it, that can’t be true?”
Hagerty hit back by pointing out that the recent spending bill was more than 1,500 pages long, adding that representatives had ultimately been given a matter of hours to comb through its contents, and again insisting that Musk had played a positive role in whittling down the final result to just a 120 page document.
Unwilling to let the broader issue go, Bash told Hagerty, “I’m sure you’ve seen and heard Democrats are mockingly suggesting that Elon Musk is the one calling the shots, questioning who the president-elect really is, to the point where Donald Trump’s press secretary issued a statement on Thursday saying, quote, ‘President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party, full stop’.”
Hagerty replied he didn’t believe that particular statement had been “necessary,” adding “I think President Trump is clearly the leader.”
Asked by Bash if he was “comfortable” with Musk’s emerging, unelected role within the party, Hagerty later added, “Elon Musk is the richest person in the world. He‘s been extraordinarily successful building companies that are unlike any other, and I‘m appreciative of the fact that President Trump has that type of talent available to advise him.”
